General facility surveillance and other monitoring devices are often desirable to prevent criminal and otherwise undesirable activity as well as provide safety and security for those within the facility. Privacy sensitive areas often preclude complete monitoring of a facility. Areas such as restrooms, offices, changing rooms, and even classrooms have certain privacy expectations associated with them that make the use of continual monitoring of activities inappropriate. However, when high-risk situations such as shootings, hostage situations, or natural disasters occur, an individual's right to privacy may be superseded by a need for surveillance. Additionally, there may be situations where selective activation of surveillance equipment or other systems may be appropriate for safety or convenience reasons, such as when a teacher or employee is alone after hours. However, the use of ever-improving security and surveillance devices is tempered by the desire to protect individuals' rights of privacy.
Surveillance or monitoring apparatuses often include video cameras allowing surveillance images to be viewed and/or recorded at a remote location. For example, an industrial plant, a public school, or a medical facility may have several video cameras at various locations throughout the building and grounds, each camera being communicatively coupled to one or more video screens and/or recorders at central security stations.
Video cameras are also coupled to computers hosting any number of software programs capable of converting video images received from the video cameras into a digital format. Such digital video recordings are particularly useful because they can be digitally transmitted over an Internet or intranet and stored as necessary. When high-risk situations occur, traditional monitoring systems do not provide a convenient way for the owner or authorities to monitor previously restricted locations.
In sum, corporations, public facilities, schools, and nearly every commercial building utilizes a security system in one form or another. Physical security utilizes motion detectors, cameras, and automatic door locks. However, traditional security systems fail to provide adequate security to privacy sensitive locations in the event of a high risk situation.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The elements are not necessarily drawn to scale.